Welcome to our travel blog. We are Tabitha and Nic. In 2011 we 'retired' in our early 40s and set off to travel the world. We spent our first year in South America and have been lucky enough to make two trips to Antarctica.

Our blog is a record of our travels, thoughts and experiences. It is not a guide book, but we do include some tips and information, so we hope that you may find it useful if you are planning to visit somewhere we have been. Or you may just find it interesting as a bit of armchair travel.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Around Winnipeg (Throwback post)

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

While in Winnipeg, we visited a few places, some on our own, and a couple with our host.

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

One visit was to the nearby Assiniboine Park. the park is pretty big, and we only visited a little bit, so we focussed on some of the gardens and the Pavilion. I really like waterlilies, so enjoyed looking at those, especially as we also spotted some lovely little frogs amongst the lilypads.

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

We checked out the art galley, but weren't really that impressed. We preferred the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden outside. The park is definitely a good place to walk about, sit and relax for a while if you are in the area.

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

Fort Gibraltar, Winnipeg

We also checked out the historical site of Fort Gibraltar. The fort was built in 1809 by the North West Company, who were in the fur trading business and were bitter rivals of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company. Battles were fought, but in the end, the two companies merged in 1821, under the Hudson's name.

Fort Gibraltar, Winnipeg

These days, Fort Gibraltar is a living museum, with displays of weaving and blacksmithing, as well as tours of the fort with decent explanations of the history of the place and what life here was like.

Fort Gibraltar, Winnipeg

Fort Gibraltar, Winnipeg

Fort Gibraltar, Winnipeg

Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Our host took us out to a couple of places that were a bit further out of town. One of those was Fort Whyte, which is a nature reserve, with nature trails and interpretative walks. It is a pleasant enough day out, and there is the added bonus of seeing the herd of bison, the little Manitoba Burrowing Owls, and the rather cute Prairie Dogs.

Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Bison at Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Prairie Dogs at Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Burrowing Owl, Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Prairie Dogs at Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Prairie Dog at Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Ducks at Fort Whyte, Winnipeg

Turtle atFort Whyte, Winnipeg

Gimli, Lake Manitoba

Our other trip out was to the town of Gimli, on the west shoreline of Lake Manitoba. Gimli is one of three sites that made up New Iceland, after the Canadian Government gave land to Icelandic settlers back in 1875. Until 1887, they their own laws and arrangements, before they merged into the Canadian system.

Gimli, Lake Manitoba

In 1897, they opened the town to other settlers from Ukraine, Poland, Germany and Hungary. The town is certainly part of Canada, but it retains strong links to the culture and history of its first inhabitants. There is an annual Icelandic Festival, that dates back to 1932 in Gimli, and earlier still elsewhere in Manitoba.

Gimli, Lake Manitoba

Gimli, Lake Manitoba

Gimli, Lake Manitoba

Sea Wall, Gimli, Lake Manitoba

One rather nice touch in the town, is the decoration of the otherwise dull sea wall with 72 painted murals. The work began in 1997, and carries on as the older ones become weather worn and need replacing.

Gimli Glider, Gimli, Lake Manitoba

Many of the paintings depict something of relevance to the area, and there is one of an Air Canada aeroplane, known as the Gimli Glider. The aircraft was en route form Montreal to Edmonton on 23 July 1983, when it somehow ran out of fuel. It's crew, Captain Robert (Bob) Pearson, and First Officer Maurice Quintal, somehow managed to glide the plane down and make an emergency landing on a race track which was a former military air base. Everyone made it safely off the plane.

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